


Pizza To Go

by Pugmom1969



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Memory Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 10:08:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23849467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pugmom1969/pseuds/Pugmom1969
Summary: Hermione disappears after the war. Severus orders a pizza and she's the delivery driver. When she doesn't recognize him or her name, Severus decides to investigate. Some angst, trying for a fluffy fic. Somehow I messed up when I posted, and it is showing this as a complete fic, which it is not...yet - more will come!
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 15
Kudos: 85





	Pizza To Go

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - All recognizable characters belong to JK Rowling and associates. No copyright infringement intended. 
> 
> by Pugmom1969 (originally used SherlockHolmes1969)

Having survived the Battle of Hogwarts, using a secret store of anti-venom, and a mysterious person retrieving his body and sending it to St. Mungo's, Severus Snape had retired to his dilapidated house in Cokeworth. His Order of Merlin, 1st class monies along with the income from several potions patents, made him quite comfortable. He just couldn’t be bothered to move from his childhood home, depressing as it was. His recovery from Nagini’s snake bite had not softened him much over the past couple of years.

Severus had had a stressful day keeping up with his Owl Post potion orders, and decided to splurge for once on some pizza and have it delivered. He was too tired to apparate to the little hole in the wall pizza parlour that he favoured. Anticipation filled him as he dreamed of the tangy sauce, sharp cheese topped with Boston pepperoni and his favourite secret indulgence – black olives. His mouth watered as he paced impatiently in his small sitting room, pausing from time to time to sip from his Wychwood Hobgoblin.

Hearing a car door slam in the distance, Severus stepped towards his front door, and lowered the wards so the deliveryman could knock. A moment later, he heard a soft thump on his door, and he flung the door open, ready to pay for his pizza. He froze in astonishment at the deliveryman...girl...one he had not seen in over two years.

“Miss Granger?” he snarled, wishing now he had ordered Indian instead of pizza. Would he never be free of his former charges?

The girl looked puzzled for a moment, “You Mr. Snape?”

Something about her tone seemed off.

“Is this some kind of joke, Miss Granger? I swear I would deduct house points for your insolence. Is Potter hiding somewhere nearby under that invisibility cloak of his? Well spare me from your foolish games. Get out,” and he slammed the door shut.

Another knock on the door, “So do you want your pizza or not?”

Severus jerked the door open and glared at the girl, “What part of ‘Get Out’ did you not understand?”

Her frizzy hair had started to unravel from the pony tail she had wrestled it into, and it was threatening to push the cap off her head. The uniform she wore looked worn out, and her eyes were tired.

“Look, Mr...” she paused to check the name on the box, “...Snape. You can take the pizza or not, but I’d really appreciate it if you did – it comes out of my pay otherwise.”

By this point, Severus had realized that the girl...Miss Granger...had no clue what he was talking about. She hadn’t even blinked at mentions of magical items or recognized his name. As it had been a few years and he had adjusted his image, he could understand her not recalling him right away, but his name...she should have known his name.

“Forgive me, I am having a bad night. Please step in for a moment,” he tried to appease her.

“Sorry, not allowed to step inside. Safety rules and all that,” she replied. “I’ll wait here.”

“Do you really not recognize me, Miss Granger?” he inquired.

A puzzled look passed over her face, “Why do you keep calling me that? My name is Jean...oops, we’re not supposed to give out names either. Please forget I said anything. You owe me £19.95.”

Severus was seriously worried now, his bad temper gone as his protective instincts from his teaching days taking over. The Brightest Witch of the Age was standing on his door step, delivering pizza of all things, with not a clue about magic or the Wizard World, and didn’t remember her name. A surge of magic curled within him, and he recognized the feel of a life-debt. He owed it to Miss Granger to help her, even though she didn’t realize it.

Thinking quickly, he silently cast a tracking charm on her, paid for his pizza and thanked her for her time, apologizing for his misunderstanding. He would track her down and find out what had happened to her. While he didn’t keep abreast of the Golden Trio’s escapades now that they were adults, he could admit that he was surprised not to have heard of any great discoveries made by Hermione Granger. Now he knew why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘Thank God that was my last delivery,’ Jean thought as she strode back to the delivery car. ‘He was mighty strange.’

As far as she knew, she had had an average upbringing, making reasonable grades, but not enough for her to get into a stellar university. She was an orphan, with little money to her name – just enough to pay for a little bed-sit that she could barely turn around in without knocking six things over. Jean was mostly a loner, not having been able to make any friends over her years since she finished school, and she was not well liked at her current job either. It was almost as if someone had cast a spell on her, but that was silly – magic didn’t exist except in fairy tales. She much preferred reading science journals over fluffy romance tales – romance was dead as far as she was concerned.

Returning to Franx’s Pizza, she took a deep breathe before entering the store. It was a grubby little place, but the food was decent, but she wished the owner and other employees are nicer to her. As she counted out her float, she realized that somehow she was short £30. Jean could almost cry at this point, not only was this her third warning for being short, she had to make the difference up out of her pay. By the end of the month, she’d barely have enough to cover her rent and that was IF she didn’t get fired. Which of course is exactly what happened. Dejected, she left the restaurant and headed back to her little bed sit, wondering what she would do now. Following her out the door were comments about how ungrateful she was, how she had let the owner down, and why was she even bothering to live with that awful hair and bossy nature. Jean tried very hard not to cry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus could hardly believe his eyes when he finally found Hermione’s flat, he thought Spinner’s End was bad. How in Merlin’s name did she end up in a place like this? It made the little flats in Knockturn Alley look like Royal suites. He shuddered to think of the young girl...well she would be a woman now...but still, any young woman living on their own in such squalor was offensive to him. She deserved better.

It was dark now and he kept to the shadows, silent as a ghost. Severus intended to break into her flat, use a Stupefy and then Legilimens the girl to see what he could discover. He was having serious issues about leaving her behind when he was done. It would all depend on what he found.

Having silenced his footsteps, he eased towards her door and pressed an ear against it. Nothing, it was safe to enter. Severus cast the Alohomora spell and pushed open the door slowly. No lights could be seen, so he entered and slid the door shut behind him. Reaching out with his senses, he could feel Hermione’s presence just a couple feet from him. He could smell her too – her day had been as bad as his apparently, and she was passed out. This would make his job easier.

Using silent and wandless magic, he Stupefied Hermione, and then cast a soft Lumos so he could see her face. Tear tracks marred her cheeks, and her hair was a mess. She had been crying for some time then. Rarely felt compassion squeezed his heart, and he again wondered what had happened.

Gently he raised an eyelid and caught her gaze as he entered her mind. When he exited a few moments later, he had to breathe hard to contain his anger at what was once the brightest mind. It was in shambles now, deliberately spelled to spiral into chaos any time she tried to remember her real past. An expertly placed false history had been embedded in her mind, making her believe she was just a mundane and below average woman, who didn’t deserve a proper meal or place to live. All her gifts were bound and her intellect stunted. He wasn’t sure how much could be restored. He knew he needed to get her to St. Mungo’s immediately.

Knowing she didn’t have any possessions worth keeping – and he could easily replace anything she needed – he gathered her slight frame up into his arms and apparated them straight to the after-hours emergency entrance of St. Mungo’s.

~~~~~~~~~~

Severus paced the hallway impatiently as the healer’s looked at Hermione. He had explained what he found in her mind, and with the assurance that he would cover the bill, they began the search for a mind healer. His talents lay in reading memories, emotions and body language, not in piecing back together a mind that resembled scrambled eggs. It was a wonder she had managed to function at all.

Finally, an older healer with stooped shoulders, white hair and gnarled fingers, stepped out to speak to Severus.

“Mr. Snape, I apologize for the time it took to ascertain Miss Granger’s health. We had to sort out the legal issues first, as she has been missing for so long and has no magical kin. As you are paying for her care, you have been made her magical guardian until such time as she recovers or you may place her immediately in the Janus Thickery Ward.”

Severus blanched at that thought, “No, I wish her to receive the best care possible.”

The healer gave him a look, “Very well. You are correct, there is a deep curse in Miss Granger’s mind that will take time to unravel. We will begin searching for an experienced Mind Healer right away. She will need to stay in a healing coma until then, as she is far from healthy. It appears she has not eaten properly in a long time.”

Sighing, Severus nodded, he had expected as much. How did he always end up looking after one of the Golden Trio?

“Do you wish to allow any other visitors at this time,” the healer asked.

“No, not right now. That will just confuse her, she will be muddled enough finding herself in a magical hospital when she wakes up,” Severus replied.

“Very well, you may visit now or in the morning. Good night Mr. Snape,” the little old healer muttered as he shuffled off.

“Good night...” Severus trailed off as the healer disappeared around the corner, he hadn’t even gotten his name.

He entered the small room that Hermione was currently lying in. It was a sad testament to her life that a hospital room was in better shape than her flat had been. He gazed down at the small frame covered in an off-white sheet, it made her look even paler. Her hair had been brushed out and a Scorify applied, and she looked better than she had earlier in the evening. Settling into the nearby chair, Severus attempted to make himself comfortable as he prepared to sit watch over his new charge.


End file.
